The 7 R’s of Sustainable Fashion — This Green Lifestyle

The first and most important step in this hierarchy is rethinking your consumption of fashion. Take a closer look at the way you consume fashion. Ask yourself: how important is it, really, to stay up to date on the fast fashion trends promoted by social media influencers? Do you impulse buy clothes when your favorite company promotes a new sale? Do you buy clothes because you’re afraid of “outfit repeating” or being out of style?

If you do, you’re not alone. In 2019, The New York Times did a story on three Gen Z shoppers, all of whom admitted to not wanting to be seen in an outfit more than once. An article in Vogue similarly lamented the lack of social acceptance around outfit repeating, pointing out that influencers who only wear items once do so to increase potential earnings.

However, it’s important to ask yourself these kinds of questions if sustainable fashion is your goal. Don’t get me wrong; fashion can be a powerful tool for expressing oneself, and you don’t have to wear the same thing every day in order to be sustainable. But there’s no reason that outfits shouldn’t be repeated, or that you can’t be fashionable with less rather than more.

The good news is that because the fashion industry is driven in part by consumer demand, consumers also have the power to slow it down. That starts with rethinking your relationship with fashion.

Refuse

Next on the sustainable fashion hierarchy is refusing clothing that is unnecessary or unsustainable. For example, it’s common for events and businesses to give out “swag” such as T-shirts or hats. While there’s a time and place for such handouts, they’re often cheaply made and overproduced, meaning that they’ll eventually end up discarded and sent to the landfill.

So next time you’re offered a fashion freebie – unless it’s something you really want – kindly say “no.” This not only keeps your own closet clutter-free, but it signals to companies that they need to shift their promotion strategies.

It’s also important to say “no” to fast fashion. One way to do so is by refusing to buy from fast fashion and ultra fast fashion companies such as SHEIN, H&M, and Forever21, amongst others. Another way to refuse fast fashion is to make the clothes you already own last longer. Instead of considering an item old when it’s been worn just once or twice, rewear it multiple times, adding different pieces or accessories to change up the style.

Reduce

“Reduce” is the first of the three core R’s of sustainable waste management, and a natural extension of “rethink” and “refuse.” While you may not be able to directly or immediately impact the amount of clothing that is produced each year – anywhere on the scale of 80 to 150 billion items a year – reducing your consumption can have a bottom-up effect on the fashion industry, as demonstrated by researchers.

The most effective ways to reduce your consumption of fashion include buying only what you need, choosing quality items, and making your clothes last longer to reduce the need for new ones. For example, make your clothes last longer by washing and drying them less often, only when needed rather than after every wear.

Did you know that you can also reduce your fashion consumption by renting an outfit instead of buying it? Instead of splurging on an expensive outfit for a holiday party, wedding, or other big event, consider renting one instead. Companies such as Rent the Runway, Nuuly, and FashionPass all offer a variety of styles and sizes at affordable prices.

Reuse

It’s high time that we normalize outfit repeating. Clothes are meant to be worn, so wear them! Unfortunately, most items of clothing are worn, on average, only 7-10 times before they are thrown away or donated. According to the #30wearschallenge, an item should be worn at least 30 times before it “breaks even” in terms of its environmental impact.

While most items can and should be worn even more than that, there may be valid reasons as to why you’re not wearing a piece of clothing anymore, such as changes in your height, size, or style. That’s where donating and reselling come in handy. To make sure that your clothing continues to be reused by others, you can gift, resell, or donate unwanted clothes. You can turn those items that no one may want into rags, stuffing, quilts, plant ties, shopping bags, and more!